United States v. Branigan

299 F. Supp. 225
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedApril 11, 1969
Docket68 Cr. 284, 68 Cr. 286, 68 Cr. 289, 68 Cr. 490
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 299 F. Supp. 225 (United States v. Branigan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Branigan, 299 F. Supp. 225 (S.D.N.Y. 1969).

Opinion

299 F.Supp. 225 (1969)

UNITED STATES of America
v.
James Harrison BRANIGAN, Jr., Defendant.
UNITED STATES of America
v.
Sammie Lee BROWN, Defendant.
UNITED STATES of America
v.
Christopher Strater ROBINSON, Defendant.
UNITED STATES of America
v.
Ronald P. MOYER, Defendant.

Nos. 68 Cr. 284, 68 Cr. 286, 68 Cr. 289, 68 Cr. 490.

United States District Court S. D. New York.

April 11, 1969.

*226 *227 Robert M. Morgenthau, U. S. Atty., for the Southern Dist. of New York, New York City, for United States, John R. Wing, Asst. U. S. Atty., of counsel in 68 Cr. 284, James W. Brannigan, Jr., Asst. U. S. Atty., of counsel in 68 Cr. 286 and 68 Cr. 289, John R. Robinson, Asst. U. S. Atty., of counsel in 68 Cr. 490.

Sanford M. Katz, New York City, for defendant Branigan.

Frederick B. Boyden, New York City, for defendant Brown.

Beldock, Levine & Hoffman, New York City, for defendant Robinson, Myron Beldock, Lawrence S. Levine, Eric D. Martins, New York City, of counsel.

Frederick H. Cohn, Sanford M. Katz, New York City, for defendant Moyer.

EDWARD WEINFELD, District Judge.

These are various motions by defendants in four separate indictments, wherein each defendant is charged under the Selective Service Act with unlawful refusal to submit to induction.[1] The defendant Robinson also is accused of unlawful failure to have his classification card in his possession; the defendant Branigan, both his classification and registration cards. Since the respective motions by each defendant in substantial respects parallel one another and present common issues, they may be considered together.

I

All the defendants challenge the array of the grand jury that indicted them, charging that the process of jury selection then in effect in this district reflected a policy of intentional and systematic discrimination against persons under 35, the poor, Negroes and Puerto Ricans.[2] Similar challenges have been repeatedly rejected by our Court of Appeals.[3] The only new issue advanced is the alleged discriminatory exclusion of persons under 35 years of age. However, this challenge requires no different result, since "it is a matter of common knowledge * * * that many women in the younger age groups have responsibilities of care for young children, and that many persons of both sexes in the younger age categories are away from home at school, and in the case of men, in military service."[4] This branch of the motion to dismiss is denied.

*228 Defendants also attack the petit jury array on the same grounds as those advanced with respect to the grand jury. But this challenge is premature, since it cannot now be determined whether any basis exists for challenge to those jurors who may be drawn for the defendants' trial under the recently effective Jury Selection and Service Act. Accordingly, this branch of the motion is denied as premature.[5]

Moyer and Branigan contend that count 1 of their indictments is fatally defective for failure to allege that the defendants were ordered to report for induction pursuant to the order of call established by the Regulations.[6] The argument is without merit. The indictment charges the defendants with refusal to submit to induction, a duty required of them under the Act and the rules and regulations made pursuant thereto. This allegation is cloaked with the presumption of regularity in the administrative process.[7] Thus, the Government, as part of its case in chief upon the trial, may rely upon the presumption to establish the validity of the call-up order.[8] And while the issue may be raised by the defense, assuming it is a valid defense, thereby putting the Government to its proof in rebuttal, there is no requirement that the indictment affirmatively negate claimed defenses to the indictment—in short, the indictment need only allege the essential elements of the crime charged. The indictment against each defendant is sufficient to inform him of the elements of the charge against which he must defend himself to protect him against double jeopardy on the same charge and to enable the court to decide whether the facts alleged are sufficient in law to withstand a motion to dismiss *229 the indictment or to support a conviction following a trial.[9]

Branigan also moves to dismiss counts 2 and 3 of his indictment, which charge him with non-possession of his registration and classification certificates, on the ground they do not charge criminal offenses under the statute. The claim is without merit. The regulations impose upon a registrant the duty to have in his personal possession at all times both his registration and his classification cards.[10] Section 12(a) of the Act makes it a criminal offense for a registrant knowingly to "fail * * * or refuse to perform any duty required of him under or in the execution of [the Act] * * * or rules, regulations, or directions made pursuant to [the Act] * * *."[11] Thus, upon its face, the statute transmutes into a criminal offense a registrant's failure to comply with the above mentioned regulations. However, Branigan contends that the statute does not come into play in this instance, since neither regulation contains any "suggestion" that a violation will result in criminal sanctions. He argues that the deletion in 1942 of a provision in the then existing regulation,[12] making non-possession of the registration card "a violation of these Regulations,"[13] leaves in force only the sanction that such non-possession "shall be prima facie evidence of * * * failure to register"; in short, the change reflected, and practice confirmed, an administrative policy that non-possession was no longer to be considered a violation, involving criminal sanctions. The argument fails on a number of grounds. First, since the registration regulation expressly imposes the duty of possession which brings a breach thereof within section 12 of the Act, there is no requirement that it also specify that a violation of its provisions constitutes a criminal offense. Apart from the fact that it would be needless repetition, which probably accounts for its deletion in 1942,[14] the contention would give greater force to the regulation than to the statute. An administrative edict cannot overcome a statute which is the source of its authority.[15] Second, the defendant concedes that the regulation governing the classification certificate lacks a similar history to that of the registration provision—that is, at no time has that regulation provided that a violation would constitute a criminal offense, and so no such provision has ever been deleted. The defendant brushes this aside with the observation that a violation of the classification-card regulation is less serious than a violation of the registration-card regulation. The law, however, recognizes no such distinction, nor is there any basis for the purported distinction. As the Supreme Court pointed out in United States v. O'Brien: "The issuance of certificates indicating the registration and eligibility classification of individuals is a legitimate and substantial administrative aid in the functioning of this system."[16]

*230

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Bluebook (online)
299 F. Supp. 225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-branigan-nysd-1969.